Policies

Attendance: Please plan to attend the entire conference. If you absolutely, positively cannot attend the entire conference and need your presentation scheduled on a specific day, you must let us know when you submit your proposal. Panels will run at the following approximate times: 2:30-7:30 Friday, 8:30-6:15 Saturday, and 8:00-1:00 Sunday. We may begin at 12:45 on Friday if demand so dictates. Special events will include a reception on Friday evening and a luncheon and speaker on Saturday. These events, plus continental breakfast on Saturday and Sunday, will be free for conference registrants.

Audio-visual equipment: The only audio-visual equipment available from the Association will be a DVD player and monitor, and you must ask for it at the time you submit your proposal. With appropriate preparation, a DVD player can play audio, video, and still images.

Organization designation: If you wish your presentation to be listed as Midwest American Culture Association (rather than Midwest Popular Culture Association), please include this request with your proposal.

Membership and Registration: All participants must be members of the Midwest Popular Culture Association/ Midwest American Culture Association. Membership is $45 for students with ID, retirees, and unemployed, and $65 for all others. Membership is for the calendar year through December 2008. The membership fee is separate from the conference registration fee. To join the MPCA/MACA, you may pay with your conference registration fee, or you may send a separate check at any time to Gary Burns, Communication, Northern Illinois University, 1425 W. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb IL 60115. Make check payable to Midwest Popular Culture Association. A membership-only form may be printed here (link opens in new window). If we do not receive your membership fee postmarked by September 15, 2008, you will be subject to a $15 late fee if you attend the conference. The Midwest PCA/ACA is a separate organization (with separate fees) from the national PCA/ACA and from other regional PCA/ACA organizations. The fees may be paid by credit card via through Acteva beginning in about June 2008.

All participants must register for the conference. Registration is $75 for students with ID, retirees, and unemployed, and $95 for all others. There will be a $15 late fee for registration on-site or postmarked after September 15, 2008. (This fee is waived for residents of countries other than the USA or Canada.) Payment on-site will be by cash or check, or by credit card through Acteva. To preregister, send a check any time to Gary Burns, Communication, Northern Illinois University, 1425 W. Lincoln Highway, DeKalb IL 60115. Make check payable to Midwest Popular Culture Association. A registration-membership form may be printed here (link opens in new window). The registration fee is separate from the membership fee. The fees may be paid by credit card via through Acteva beginning in about June 2008.

Conference Hotel: We have a special group rate at the Hilton of $135/night. To qualify for the special rate, you must make your reservation by Friday, September 12, 2008. Call the Hilton at 800-HILTONS and mention MPCA. We have a limited block of rooms reserved on a first-come, first-served basis. Cincinnati is in the Eastern Time Zone.

Financial Assistance: Travel grants are available for graduate students. Otherwise, unfortunately, MPCA/MACA is not able to provide financial assistance to participants to defray costs of transportation, lodging, meals, registration, or any other expense.

Cancellation Policy: If you submit a proposal (or if you accept an invitation to appear on a panel), you are promising to attend the conference if your proposal is accepted and you are promising to pay the conference registration fee, the Association membership fee, and a late fee of $15 if applicable. If your proposal is accepted and you do not attend the conference, it is expected that you will

1. Notify all members of your panel, your area chair, and the MPCA/MACA Executive Secretary (Gary Burns) of your cancellation
2. Provide such notification as early as possible
3. Arrange to have your paper distributed at the panel
4. Arrange for somebody else to carry out any other duties you may have
5. and Pay your membership and registration fees (plus late fee if applicable)

If conditions 1-5 are met, you may file a written request, after the conference, for a refund of half your registration fee. For coauthored papers, all authors are welcome and encouraged to attend, but only one author is required to attend.